Pink footed Geese - 70, high east then turned south. My first autumn site record.
Pink footed Geese2 - 6, circled low over west pool 30' later before heading out south as well
Canada Geese - 105, west pool
Great crested Grebe - 2
Wigeon - 1, female
Teal - 10, came in low from east, circled then out south
Pochard - 12
Shoveler - 4
Tufted Duck - 27
Grey Heron - 2, immature & adult
Wheatear - female immature on summit
Tree Pipit - 2, over south
Meadow Pipit - light movement south, c20-30/hour
Chaffinch - same as above
Blackcap - 2, males noted feeding on guilder rose berries
Chiffchaff - 3, singing birds
Willow Warbler - 2, calling
Jay - 5, in single group
Dave Benson said
Mon Sep 11 2:04 PM, 2023
Spotted Flycatcher in trees along E side of landfill at 2pm on 11/9/23.
JOHN TYMON said
Sat Sep 9 3:41 PM, 2023
This morning pretty much as yesterday apart from a Female Stonechat on the bales on the eastern arable land(pic below) . 60 Goldfinch, 2 Yellowhammer also on the set aside on the eastern arable .Trail bikers on the landfill so no chance of anything up there for me today .4 Teal up on yesterday, and a Nuthatch.
-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Sunday 10th of September 2023 09:37:08 AM
Seems the Canada geese are roosting on the west pool ,I was a bit later today but kept seeing groups leave east including the hybrid from yesterday pic of Hybrid below
Shoveler - 2 Juvenile + 2 adult west pool (possibly from Woolston)
Pochard - 12 West pool
Tufted Duck - 30
Little Grebe - 6
Great Crested Grebe - 1 Pair west pool
Goldfinch - 30
Willow Warbler- 2
Chiffchaff -8
Golden Plover 1 > east
2 Tree pipit off summit south
Meadow Pipit-8
Whitethroat - 1
Blackcap - 2
-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Thursday 7th of September 2023 05:02:40 PM
Rob Smith said
Tue Sep 5 2:45 PM, 2023
An interesting morning walkabout with a few interesting records along the east side of SLP.
Coal Tit - 1, in mixed flock, scarce bird here
Willow Tit - 1, in separate small tit flock, rare bird here
Common Redstart - male, briefly singing as it moved with mixed flock
Siskin - 2, flew south overhead
Treecreeper - 1, same area
Goldcrest - 2
Grey Wagtail - 1, over south
Swallows - several individual groups of 10 -20 moving south after brief hawking activity over pools
Summit.
Wheatear - 1, juvenile female on metal frame
Goldfinch - 30, flitting around & feeding on seed heads
Hobby - distantly chasing/following swallows
Sparrowhawk - male circling area
Kestrel - 3
Pools.
Tufted Duck - 28
Pochard - 10
Great crested Grebe - 2, gradually moulting into winter plumage
Little Grebe - 3, adult & 2 new young
Cormorant - 2 on raft
Grey Heron - 3, perched on trees on edge of pool
Common Whitethroat/Chiffchaff/Blackcap still calling around the site
JOHN TYMON said
Mon Sep 4 3:42 PM, 2023
Firstly of note this morning Pochard -12 Tufted Duck - 38 Willow Warbler-1 Grey Heron -2 3 broods of Little Grebe ,the only birds that are seemingly doing well one pair on its 3rd brood of the year. Like Lwm post, it seems a real dearth of small birds on site .The mile by a mile landfill Criss crossed this morning produced not a single bird, which is crazy in perfect whinchat, stonechat and every other small bird you can think of habitat, something is drastically wrong with small bird numbers. As most local patchers of note will already know.
Finally the Motorway Service Station has seemingly started with big drainage systems being dropped off (see picture)on site this morning so the end of the SE arable land where Hen Harrier wintered a few years ago ,also 22 acre of the landfill will disappear under solar panels and restrictions to access very soon. Parking will no longer be allowed at Junction 11.
-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Tuesday 5th of September 2023 11:42:46 AM
This morning notables
12 Pochard
8 Swift
Hundreds of Swallow and House Martin piling through south very high, with a few Sand Martin
Stonechat -1 pair - first arrival for me this Autumn of the usual wintering crew ,why they dont breed onsite with perfect habitat is puzzling.
Rob Smith said
Thu Aug 31 6:38 PM, 2023
from a couple of hours this morning.
Tufted Duck - 42
Pochard - 11
Mallard - 22
Great crested Grebe - 2
Kestrel - 3
Sparrowhawk - male circling o/h
Raven - 1, flew east
Goldfinch - 70, mostly juveniles flitting/feeding around summit
Chiffchaff - 2, singing birds heard
Tree Pipit - 1 flew south
House Martin, Swallow & Meadow Pipit - light southerly movement over 2 hours
Rob Smith said
Mon Aug 28 8:22 PM, 2023
This pm of note
Yellow Wagtail - 6, & maybe more in among broad bean crop
Swallow - 50+, hawking over same field
Grey Partridge - 3, down east side fields
Cormorant - 4, on west pool raft
Grey Heron - perched in tree on edge of west pool
Great crested Grebe - 2
JOHN TYMON said
Fri Aug 25 7:20 PM, 2023
This morning a large movement South of Buzzard in particular with 18 in the air at one point watching from the landfill summit , all but our regular 4 heading South. Also 1 Juvenile Marsh Harrier , high South and a Juvenile Hobby chasing House Martins South. Other numbers of note.
House Martin - c 300+ South
Swallow - 200+ South some feeding young on the wing
Swift -4
Little Grebe- one pair with newly hatched young on west pool
Whitethroat - a Family of fledged young showing Summer isn't over yet
Blackcap-6
plenty Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff still
Reed Warbler-1
Kestrel-3
Sparrowhawk- 1
Stock Dove - 20 on eastern arable
Woodpigeon-300+ on eastern arable
Bullfinch-2
Great Crested Grebe-2
Grey Heron-2
Cormorant -2
plus the usuals
Rob Smith said
Wed Aug 23 8:03 PM, 2023
This morning
House Martin/Swallows - 200, hawking at varying heights over east treeline as they drifted south
Swallow - 50, came in low from the north, hawked briefly over west pool & then out west
Herring Gull - 7, juveniles on west pool
Black headed Gulls - 70 mostly adults on pool
Great spotted Woodpecker - 1 over north
Nuthatch - 1
Rob Smith said
Tue Aug 22 2:51 PM, 2023
Grey Partridge 8 - House Martin 80+ along east ridge with a few swallows among them - Swift 2, drifting SW - Hobby flying fast south - Kestrel 3 - Great spotted Woodpecker 1 - Chiffchaff, adult feeding 2 juveniles
Rob Smith said
Fri Aug 18 4:00 PM, 2023
From this morning of note
Marsh Harrier - female, flew low to east over pools
Kestrel - 2, over landfill
Pochard - 7
Cormorant - 3, west pool raft
Great crested Grebe - 2
Great black back Gull - 1, flew low to NE
House Martin - 80/hour drifting south
Swallow - 20/hour same
JOHN TYMON said
Tue Aug 15 12:56 PM, 2023
Also Adult Hobby over se side as I was leaving at 1 pm.
JOHN TYMON said
Tue Aug 15 12:35 PM, 2023
1st juv wheatear this morning 40 swift and a snipe. Pools more or less the same as last 2 weeks.
Rob Smith said
Fri Aug 11 10:32 AM, 2023
From dusk last night -
Hirundines, 30+ mostly House Martins but several Sand & Swallow with them -
Kingfisher, 1 - Great crested Grebe, 2
JOHN TYMON said
Thu Aug 10 5:34 PM, 2023
Of note today a Juvenile Yellow Wagtail , first ive seen on the floor at silver lane this year, only had flyovers previously. Rest was much the same as a week ago.
Andy Slee said
Wed Aug 9 9:30 PM, 2023
15 years ago licence conditions were applied for...........how soon forgotten.
I worked on Risley IV when it was being filled up - my MSc was in the switch from Bentonite Clay landfill liners to Geotextile liners / leachate recovery and gas recovery for energy. Risley IV was an early Geotextile Liner. I wouldn't be wanting to poke around under the ground on that site installing foundations for any minor plant, there is still some nasty smells of degradation gases coming off.
I did reply in both a personal and technical position to the planning enquiries but no avail (as per Port Warrington and the MSA).
(Apols if not birds related enough and needs moving to another section of the forum such as general news).
Andy Slee said
Wed Aug 9 9:25 PM, 2023
Closure plan from 12 years ago........with licence conditions for scrub / woodland. Not solar plant.
The combined loss of habitat from the MSA & now the solar farm will be a huge loss of biodiversity for the area as a whole. Having monitored this area for over 20 years and annually sent in detailed records to Cheshire LRC & CAWOS in the hope that it would be of value in making decisions in future years, but clearly not!
Andy Slee said
Wed Aug 9 7:27 PM, 2023
Warrington have a distorted idea of "green belt" and "brownfield" sometimes.
Silver Lane and Risley Landfill - the closure plans showed rewilding (I've got Biffas habitat drawings from when I worked at Risley iV); not energy farms and hotels.
Fiddlers Ferry Lagoons to be filled in with demolition waste from the power station to make new brownfield land for light industrial, housing and a small nature park.
Moore Lapwing Lane and Pool and Big Wood and Dog fields plus Black-Fields Pools to be built over for Port Warrington, replaced by a "country park" on the Arley Landfill site (which is still giving off a lot of degradation gas so the 2025 date for that happening that WBC published in 2020 - quietly during the first lockdown..........seems unrealistic....yet prep works on the Ethelyene Pipeline through Moore are starting for Peels plans). No one seems bothered - raised with CAWOS, no response. Spoke to Wildlife Trust - they've no money no Landfill funding came to an end. Other large bird charity not interested as a done deal with Peel anyway and site diversity being lost already due to vandalism lack of habitat management and changing water management.
JOHN TYMON said
Wed Aug 9 7:06 PM, 2023
Andy Slee wrote:
Planning permission given today for the Solar Farm on the Landfill site (9ha of 76ha total area).
Thats sad but expected news, the end of nesting Skylark I would expect 9ha is a massive area. Another of my patches coming to an end
Andy Slee said
Wed Aug 9 4:28 PM, 2023
Planning permission given today for the Solar Farm on the Landfill site (9ha of 76ha total area).
Rob Smith said
Fri Aug 4 10:35 PM, 2023
From first thing this morning
Cormorant - 4 on raft
Herring Gull - 11, dropped in with
Lesser black-backed Gulls - 12, & then all out south
Great crested Grebe - 2
Canada Geese - 2
Kestrel - 3
Long tailed Tit - 3 separate small flocks moving round area with juvenile Blackcap, Chiffchaff & Willow Warbler among them.
Common Whitethroat - feeding young on nest
Goldfinch - 50, flitting around summit
JOHN TYMON said
Fri Aug 4 9:11 PM, 2023
10 Cormorant showing change of the season this morning on the west pool , Male Marsh Harrier was over the eastern arable over the spoiled crops 4 Kestrel, 2 Great Crested Grebe best of the rest ,otherwise much the same as last week .
Rob Smith said
Tue Aug 1 7:16 PM, 2023
From this morning
Coal Tit - 1, with small mixed tit flock, Scarce bird here
Sedge Warbler - 1, several brief song bursts
Whitethroat - 2, calling nearby
Swift - 10, feeding/drifting south
House Martin - 20, with several Swallows hawking around & over trees
Starling - 150, on wires with smaller flocks passing over pools
Kestrel -2
Common Buzzard - 2, adult & vocal juvenile
Great crested Grebe - 2
Pochard - 4, in moult
Tufted Duck - 30, again some going into moult
Coot - 26
JOHN TYMON said
Sat Jul 29 11:04 AM, 2023
Nothing of real note again this morning apart from the 3 juv and 2 adult Kestrel hunting across the area ,whitethroat Juv and plenty Tufted Duck, and good number of Little Grebe. Main note really is the total dirth of birds on the landfill basicly a mile square of perfect flower meadow, and grassland habitat held more or less no birds .
Note for anyone visiting 30 caravans of travellers gave taken up summer residency on the west end of Silver Lane .
-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Saturday 29th of July 2023 03:16:18 PM
JOHN TYMON said
Thu Jul 27 1:51 PM, 2023
of note Am
Cormorant-2
Greylag Goose -1
Oystercatcher-1
Grey Heron - 2
Great Crested Grebe - 2 unfortunately as Rob says lost their nest in the flood
Little Grebe - 1 Pair with 2 Juveniles west and a pair with the 2nd set of Juvenile on entrance pool
Swift - at least 300 mainly tracking South
Kestrel - 2 adults with 3 Juvenile
Seems more or less like the end of a bang average season, luckily the 2 weeks of sunshine mid June allowed some of the common birds, the time to get their young off , but overall the area is quiet , basically the whole of the landfill zig zagging across about a mile and half walk I saw 10 Goldfinch imagine that 30 years ago in perfect habitat for small birds. At least the Kestrel have been successful which i suppose is a good thing these days , but year on year its so noticeable from a patcher that all birds in general are in decline away from major reserves like Woolston etc ,basically a 2 x 2 mil site with 1 sedge Warbler were 30 years ago I would have expected 20+ . Where have all the Hobby gone to this year ? obviously the poor weather means Dragonflies are not surviving well so they have left early.
Rob Smith said
Wed Jul 26 4:48 PM, 2023
early start this morning, generally quiet but of note:
Willow Tit - 5, 2 adults feeding 3 juveniles. Rare sight here but a pleasure to record.
Bullfinch - 3, female feeding 2 juveniles in same area
Grasshopper Warbler - 1 reeling briefly on several occasions
Grey Partridge - 3, on summit
Kestrel - 3
Rob Smith said
Mon Jul 24 8:47 PM, 2023
Of note Swift - 150+ over east side as well as parties of 10-30 drifting south over pools
House Sparrow - 40+ in local hedgerow
Raven - 2 over SW
Common Buzzard - 4 around area
Reed Warbler - 2, adult feeding juvenile
Great crested Grebe - 2, nest washed out by rising water levels
Rob Smith said
Sat Jul 22 6:37 PM, 2023
Damp but warm walk out & not a sole around with wildfowl numbers slowly increasing.
Mallard - 31
Tufted Duck - 33
Gadwall - not garganey, adult + 6 young
Great crested Grebe - 2, nest barely above increasing water level
Little Grebe -6,
Coot - 33
Grey Heron - immature wading across east pool
Kestrel - 5, 2 adult + 3 immatures
Sparrowhawk - female, dropping onto wood pigeon flock along east side
House Martin - 10+ over pools
Swift - 10+ over pools
JOHN TYMON said
Sat Jul 22 10:04 AM, 2023
JOHN TYMON wrote:
Am
1 pair of Kestrel with 3 fledged Juveniles hunting
Great Crested Grebe - Pair still on 2 eggs
Garganey- female still with the full compliment of 6 young
Bullfinch - 1 Pair with 4 fledged young
Sedge Warbler - 1 Singing on landfill
Plenty Swallow,Swift and a few Sand Martin
2 Buzzard
That was a Gadwall with 6 young not Garganey it wouldn't let me edit unfortunately lol
JOHN TYMON said
Thu Jul 20 8:17 PM, 2023
Am
1 pair of Kestrel with 3 fledged Juveniles hunting
Great Crested Grebe - Pair still on 2 eggs
Garganey- female still with the full compliment of 6 young
Bullfinch - 1 Pair with 4 fledged young
Sedge Warbler - 1 Singing on landfill
Plenty Swallow,Swift and a few Sand Martin
2 Buzzard
JOHN TYMON said
Wed Jul 12 12:59 PM, 2023
Am
Great Crested Grebe still sitting on eggs on West pool,so there's still hope
Gadwall - Female still with 6 young
Shoveler - 1 Pair
Pochard-1
Kestrel- 1 Pair hunting
Buzzard -4
Goldfinch - 40 +
Swift - plenty over
Coot with new hatched chick's on West pool
Little Grebe -8
JOHN TYMON said
Sat Jul 8 6:12 PM, 2023
A first for me at the site this morning a Quail was singing on the SE side of the landfill in a long grass,wild flower area.
JOHN TYMON said
Sat Jul 8 7:32 AM, 2023
Friday Am
No sign of Juvenike Black Necked Grebe. The rest was same as Thursday .
-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Saturday 8th of July 2023 07:33:19 AM
JOHN TYMON said
Thu Jul 6 11:40 AM, 2023
A new Juvenile Black Necked Grebe present this morning and early afternoon Gadwall Female with 6 young also .Great Crested Grebe still sitting on 2 eggs . Also a fair movement South this morning of Swift and a Hobby over the west pool at 2pm .
-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Thursday 6th of July 2023 04:03:00 PM
Rob Smith said
Wed Jul 5 2:28 PM, 2023
From yesterday evening. Goosander, female on raft - Great crested Grebe, 2 still sitting - Mallard, 28 inc female with 6 young & a white farmyard duck - Tufted Duck, 22 - Pochard, 3 - Cormorant, 2 - Coot, 27 - Swift, 70+ & House Martin, 40+ hawking over pool - Sedge Warbler, 1 - Willow Warbler & Chiffchaff, lots of young in every tree it seems at times
JOHN TYMON said
Mon Jul 3 11:21 AM, 2023
No sign of juv Black Necked Grebe this morning ,and great crested who sat asleep for 3 weeks in the hot period, decided to lay 2 eggs on a bit of floating weed last week just lost both to the rising water :(
-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Monday 3rd of July 2023 01:08:02 PM
Rob Smith said
Fri Jun 30 11:22 AM, 2023
A fruitful west pool this morning despite some recent vandalism around its edges
Black-necked Grebe - juvenile, being harassed by
Great-crested Grebe - 2.
Little Grebe - 4
Mallard - 27
Tufted Duck - 14
Pochard - 3, 2m/1f
Cormorant - 1
Coot - 23
Lesser black-backed Gulls - 6
Herring Gull - 1
Oystercatcher - 2, circled pool & then out west
Several each of Swift, House & Sand Martin - briefly hawking over pool
JOHN TYMON said
Wed Jun 28 2:33 PM, 2023
Only thing of note 1 fem Gadwall with 6 young newly hatched.
Rob Smith said
Fri Jun 23 8:09 PM, 2023
Generally quiet but this morning on west pool only
Mallard - 14
Coot - 19 inc. a single day old chick
Great crested Grebe - 2
Little Grebe - 2
Lesser black backed Gull - 7
Grey Heron - 1
Moorhen - 2
Elsewhere:
Kestrel - female
Sedge Warbler - singing on summit
Grey Partridge - 5, (adult + 3 immature) on summit / a single immature on its own along east side)
Meadow Pipit - 2 displaying males
Rob Smith said
Tue Jun 13 7:41 PM, 2023
a morning stroll before it gets too warm.
Grey Partridge - 1 adult + 2 chicks
Oystercatcher - 2 circling then out south
Grasshopper Warbler - 1 reeling near west pool
Blackcap - 8 singing birds (northern area mostly)
Willow Warbler - 17 (as above)
Chiffchaff - 10 (as above)
Common Whitethroat - 9 (as above)
Reed Warbler - 5
Reed Bunting - 8 (as above)
West pool: Canada Geese 7, Mallard 22, Tufted Duck 8, Heron 1, Cormorant 1, Little Grebe 2, Coot 14 - Herring Gull 3, Lesser black back Gull 2, Greater black back Gull 2 flew over north
JOHN TYMON said
Mon Jun 12 4:03 PM, 2023
Only things of note 2 new Sedge Warbler singing presuming disturbed from another area by strumming as none present recently.
JOHN TYMON said
Thu Jun 8 7:25 PM, 2023
This morning
2 Pochard
1 Great Crested Grebe
Cormorant - 2
Reed Bunting- feeding young
Swift -14
Lots of little Grebe but strangely only seen one with young this year
Kestrel - 1 Pair
Rob Smith said
Mon Jun 5 8:26 PM, 2023
Always something of interest & this morning was no different.
Grey Partridge - adult & at least 2 chicks (could have been more but lost among corn crop)
Yellow Wagtail - female dropping into cornfield
Kingfisher - on east pool, my first record here this year!
Sand Martin - several hawking over pool
Swift - ca 10 overhead briefly
Mallard - female + 7 ducklings
and usual warblers
JOHN TYMON said
Sat Jun 3 3:58 PM, 2023
Nothing if any real note this morning , just the usual Skylarks etc in good numbers ,pools almost birdless as we're the skies prob due to constant low flyovers of 2 motorised Hang gliders bombing the summit.
Rob Smith said
Fri Jun 2 11:04 PM, 2023
Osprey, with several feathers missing flew east this pm being harassed by gulls & crows - Great crested Grebe, 2 back on west pool -
Earlier in week, Hobby+ 2 Kestrel+2 Common Buzzards & a Sparrowhawk, loosely & briefly sharing thermals over landfill summit
Of Note AM
Pink Footed Geese - A few small flocks SE and a single downed with the Canada Geese on the west pool
Wheatear - 1 Male (see pic)
Yellow Wagtail- 1 South
Willow Warbler-3
Meadow Pipit - 30 on Landfill and approx 300 South during the morning
Swallows and House Martins trickling through south
Raven- 2 East
Shoveler-4
Pochard-17
Tufted Duck - 34
Great Crested Grebe-2
Teal- 2
Kestrel-2
Buzzard-6
Pink footed Geese - 70, high east then turned south. My first autumn site record.
Pink footed Geese2 - 6, circled low over west pool 30' later before heading out south as well
Canada Geese - 105, west pool
Great crested Grebe - 2
Wigeon - 1, female
Teal - 10, came in low from east, circled then out south
Pochard - 12
Shoveler - 4
Tufted Duck - 27
Grey Heron - 2, immature & adult
Wheatear - female immature on summit
Tree Pipit - 2, over south
Meadow Pipit - light movement south, c20-30/hour
Chaffinch - same as above
Blackcap - 2, males noted feeding on guilder rose berries
Chiffchaff - 3, singing birds
Willow Warbler - 2, calling
Jay - 5, in single group
This morning pretty much as yesterday apart from a Female Stonechat on the bales on the eastern arable land(pic below) . 60 Goldfinch, 2 Yellowhammer also on the set aside on the eastern arable .Trail bikers on the landfill so no chance of anything up there for me today .4 Teal up on yesterday, and a Nuthatch.
-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Sunday 10th of September 2023 09:37:08 AM
Am of note
Seems the Canada geese are roosting on the west pool ,I was a bit later today but kept seeing groups leave east including the hybrid from yesterday pic of Hybrid below
Shoveler- 6 on West Pool
Teal - 1 Female on West Pool
Great Crested Grebe -2
Little Grebe-8
Grey Heron-2
Cormorant-2
Pochard-12
Tufted Duck- 30
Stonechat - 1 Juvenile Male on Summit
Swallow - 40 South
House Martin - 6 South
Tree Pipit - 2 South
Whitethroat-3
Blackcap - 2
Greenfinch-5
Jay- 8
Buzzard-3
Kestrel-2
Chiffchaff-6
Willow Warbler-1
Am of note
Canada Geese - 530 on west pool
Greylag Geese - 8 on west pool
Hybrid Greylag x Canada -1 on west pool
House Martin- 10
Shoveler - 2 Juvenile + 2 adult west pool (possibly from Woolston)
Pochard - 12 West pool
Tufted Duck - 30
Little Grebe - 6
Great Crested Grebe - 1 Pair west pool
Goldfinch - 30
Willow Warbler- 2
Chiffchaff -8
Golden Plover 1 > east
2 Tree pipit off summit south
Meadow Pipit-8
Whitethroat - 1
Blackcap - 2
-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Thursday 7th of September 2023 05:02:40 PM
Coal Tit - 1, in mixed flock, scarce bird here
Willow Tit - 1, in separate small tit flock, rare bird here
Common Redstart - male, briefly singing as it moved with mixed flock
Siskin - 2, flew south overhead
Treecreeper - 1, same area
Goldcrest - 2
Grey Wagtail - 1, over south
Swallows - several individual groups of 10 -20 moving south after brief hawking activity over pools
Summit.
Wheatear - 1, juvenile female on metal frame
Goldfinch - 30, flitting around & feeding on seed heads
Hobby - distantly chasing/following swallows
Sparrowhawk - male circling area
Kestrel - 3
Pools.
Tufted Duck - 28
Pochard - 10
Great crested Grebe - 2, gradually moulting into winter plumage
Little Grebe - 3, adult & 2 new young
Cormorant - 2 on raft
Grey Heron - 3, perched on trees on edge of pool
Common Whitethroat/Chiffchaff/Blackcap still calling around the site
Firstly of note this morning Pochard -12 Tufted Duck - 38 Willow Warbler-1 Grey Heron -2 3 broods of Little Grebe ,the only birds that are seemingly doing well one pair on its 3rd brood of the year. Like Lwm post, it seems a real dearth of small birds on site .The mile by a mile landfill Criss crossed this morning produced not a single bird, which is crazy in perfect whinchat, stonechat and every other small bird you can think of habitat, something is drastically wrong with small bird numbers. As most local patchers of note will already know.
Finally the Motorway Service Station has seemingly started with big drainage systems being dropped off (see picture)on site this morning so the end of the SE arable land where Hen Harrier wintered a few years ago ,also 22 acre of the landfill will disappear under solar panels and restrictions to access very soon. Parking will no longer be allowed at Junction 11.
-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Tuesday 5th of September 2023 11:42:46 AM
Tufted Duck - 42
Pochard - 11
Mallard - 22
Great crested Grebe - 2
Kestrel - 3
Sparrowhawk - male circling o/h
Raven - 1, flew east
Goldfinch - 70, mostly juveniles flitting/feeding around summit
Chiffchaff - 2, singing birds heard
Tree Pipit - 1 flew south
House Martin, Swallow & Meadow Pipit - light southerly movement over 2 hours
Yellow Wagtail - 6, & maybe more in among broad bean crop
Swallow - 50+, hawking over same field
Grey Partridge - 3, down east side fields
Cormorant - 4, on west pool raft
Grey Heron - perched in tree on edge of west pool
Great crested Grebe - 2
This morning a large movement South of Buzzard in particular with 18 in the air at one point watching from the landfill summit , all but our regular 4 heading South. Also 1 Juvenile Marsh Harrier , high South and a Juvenile Hobby chasing House Martins South. Other numbers of note.
House Martin - c 300+ South
Swallow - 200+ South some feeding young on the wing
Swift -4
Little Grebe- one pair with newly hatched young on west pool
Whitethroat - a Family of fledged young showing Summer isn't over yet
Blackcap-6
plenty Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff still
Reed Warbler-1
Kestrel-3
Sparrowhawk- 1
Stock Dove - 20 on eastern arable
Woodpigeon-300+ on eastern arable
Bullfinch-2
Great Crested Grebe-2
Grey Heron-2
Cormorant -2
plus the usuals
House Martin/Swallows - 200, hawking at varying heights over east treeline as they drifted south
Swallow - 50, came in low from the north, hawked briefly over west pool & then out west
Herring Gull - 7, juveniles on west pool
Black headed Gulls - 70 mostly adults on pool
Great spotted Woodpecker - 1 over north
Nuthatch - 1
Marsh Harrier - female, flew low to east over pools
Kestrel - 2, over landfill
Pochard - 7
Cormorant - 3, west pool raft
Great crested Grebe - 2
Great black back Gull - 1, flew low to NE
House Martin - 80/hour drifting south
Swallow - 20/hour same
Hirundines, 30+ mostly House Martins but several Sand & Swallow with them -
Kingfisher, 1 - Great crested Grebe, 2
15 years ago licence conditions were applied for...........how soon forgotten.
I worked on Risley IV when it was being filled up - my MSc was in the switch from Bentonite Clay landfill liners to Geotextile liners / leachate recovery and gas recovery for energy. Risley IV was an early Geotextile Liner. I wouldn't be wanting to poke around under the ground on that site installing foundations for any minor plant, there is still some nasty smells of degradation gases coming off.
I did reply in both a personal and technical position to the planning enquiries but no avail (as per Port Warrington and the MSA).
(Apols if not birds related enough and needs moving to another section of the forum such as general news).
Closure plan from 12 years ago........with licence conditions for scrub / woodland. Not solar plant.
Warrington have a distorted idea of "green belt" and "brownfield" sometimes.
Silver Lane and Risley Landfill - the closure plans showed rewilding (I've got Biffas habitat drawings from when I worked at Risley iV); not energy farms and hotels.
Fiddlers Ferry Lagoons to be filled in with demolition waste from the power station to make new brownfield land for light industrial, housing and a small nature park.
Moore Lapwing Lane and Pool and Big Wood and Dog fields plus Black-Fields Pools to be built over for Port Warrington, replaced by a "country park" on the Arley Landfill site (which is still giving off a lot of degradation gas so the 2025 date for that happening that WBC published in 2020 - quietly during the first lockdown..........seems unrealistic....yet prep works on the Ethelyene Pipeline through Moore are starting for Peels plans). No one seems bothered - raised with CAWOS, no response. Spoke to Wildlife Trust - they've no money no Landfill funding came to an end. Other large bird charity not interested as a done deal with Peel anyway and site diversity being lost already due to vandalism lack of habitat management and changing water management.
Thats sad but expected news, the end of nesting Skylark I would expect 9ha is a massive area. Another of my patches coming to an end
Planning permission given today for the Solar Farm on the Landfill site (9ha of 76ha total area).
Coal Tit - 1, with small mixed tit flock, Scarce bird here
Sedge Warbler - 1, several brief song bursts
Whitethroat - 2, calling nearby
Swift - 10, feeding/drifting south
House Martin - 20, with several Swallows hawking around & over trees
Starling - 150, on wires with smaller flocks passing over pools
Kestrel -2
Common Buzzard - 2, adult & vocal juvenile
Great crested Grebe - 2
Pochard - 4, in moult
Tufted Duck - 30, again some going into moult
Coot - 26
Nothing of real note again this morning apart from the 3 juv and 2 adult Kestrel hunting across the area ,whitethroat Juv and plenty Tufted Duck, and good number of Little Grebe. Main note really is the total dirth of birds on the landfill basicly a mile square of perfect flower meadow, and grassland habitat held more or less no birds .
Note for anyone visiting 30 caravans of travellers gave taken up summer residency on the west end of Silver Lane .
-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Saturday 29th of July 2023 03:16:18 PM
of note Am
Cormorant-2
Greylag Goose -1
Oystercatcher-1
Grey Heron - 2
Great Crested Grebe - 2 unfortunately as Rob says lost their nest in the flood
Little Grebe - 1 Pair with 2 Juveniles west and a pair with the 2nd set of Juvenile on entrance pool
Swift - at least 300 mainly tracking South
Kestrel - 2 adults with 3 Juvenile
Seems more or less like the end of a bang average season, luckily the 2 weeks of sunshine mid June allowed some of the common birds, the time to get their young off , but overall the area is quiet , basically the whole of the landfill zig zagging across about a mile and half walk I saw 10 Goldfinch imagine that 30 years ago in perfect habitat for small birds. At least the Kestrel have been successful which i suppose is a good thing these days , but year on year its so noticeable from a patcher that all birds in general are in decline away from major reserves like Woolston etc ,basically a 2 x 2 mil site with 1 sedge Warbler were 30 years ago I would have expected 20+ . Where have all the Hobby gone to this year ? obviously the poor weather means Dragonflies are not surviving well so they have left early.
Willow Tit - 5, 2 adults feeding 3 juveniles. Rare sight here but a pleasure to record.
Bullfinch - 3, female feeding 2 juveniles in same area
Grasshopper Warbler - 1 reeling briefly on several occasions
Grey Partridge - 3, on summit
Kestrel - 3
Swift - 150+ over east side as well as parties of 10-30 drifting south over pools
House Sparrow - 40+ in local hedgerow
Raven - 2 over SW
Common Buzzard - 4 around area
Reed Warbler - 2, adult feeding juvenile
Great crested Grebe - 2, nest washed out by rising water levels
Damp but warm walk out & not a sole around with wildfowl numbers slowly increasing.
Mallard - 31
Tufted Duck - 33
Gadwall - not garganey, adult + 6 young
Great crested Grebe - 2, nest barely above increasing water level
Little Grebe -6,
Coot - 33
Grey Heron - immature wading across east pool
Kestrel - 5, 2 adult + 3 immatures
Sparrowhawk - female, dropping onto wood pigeon flock along east side
House Martin - 10+ over pools
Swift - 10+ over pools
That was a Gadwall with 6 young not Garganey it wouldn't let me edit unfortunately lol
Am
1 pair of Kestrel with 3 fledged Juveniles hunting
Great Crested Grebe - Pair still on 2 eggs
Garganey- female still with the full compliment of 6 young
Bullfinch - 1 Pair with 4 fledged young
Sedge Warbler - 1 Singing on landfill
Plenty Swallow,Swift and a few Sand Martin
2 Buzzard
Am
Great Crested Grebe still sitting on eggs on West pool,so there's still hope
Gadwall - Female still with 6 young
Shoveler - 1 Pair
Pochard-1
Kestrel- 1 Pair hunting
Buzzard -4
Goldfinch - 40 +
Swift - plenty over
Coot with new hatched chick's on West pool
Little Grebe -8
A first for me at the site this morning a Quail was singing on the SE side of the landfill in a long grass,wild flower area.
Friday Am
No sign of Juvenike Black Necked Grebe. The rest was same as Thursday .
-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Saturday 8th of July 2023 07:33:19 AM
A new Juvenile Black Necked Grebe present this morning and early afternoon Gadwall Female with 6 young also .Great Crested Grebe still sitting on 2 eggs . Also a fair movement South this morning of Swift and a Hobby over the west pool at 2pm .
-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Thursday 6th of July 2023 04:03:00 PM
No sign of juv Black Necked Grebe this morning ,and great crested who sat asleep for 3 weeks in the hot period, decided to lay 2 eggs on a bit of floating weed last week just lost both to the rising water :(
-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Monday 3rd of July 2023 01:08:02 PM
A fruitful west pool this morning despite some recent vandalism around its edges
Black-necked Grebe - juvenile, being harassed by
Great-crested Grebe - 2.
Little Grebe - 4
Mallard - 27
Tufted Duck - 14
Pochard - 3, 2m/1f
Cormorant - 1
Coot - 23
Lesser black-backed Gulls - 6
Herring Gull - 1
Oystercatcher - 2, circled pool & then out west
Several each of Swift, House & Sand Martin - briefly hawking over pool
Only thing of note 1 fem Gadwall with 6 young newly hatched.
Mallard - 14
Coot - 19 inc. a single day old chick
Great crested Grebe - 2
Little Grebe - 2
Lesser black backed Gull - 7
Grey Heron - 1
Moorhen - 2
Elsewhere:
Kestrel - female
Sedge Warbler - singing on summit
Grey Partridge - 5, (adult + 3 immature) on summit / a single immature on its own along east side)
Meadow Pipit - 2 displaying males
Grey Partridge - 1 adult + 2 chicks
Oystercatcher - 2 circling then out south
Grasshopper Warbler - 1 reeling near west pool
Blackcap - 8 singing birds (northern area mostly)
Willow Warbler - 17 (as above)
Chiffchaff - 10 (as above)
Common Whitethroat - 9 (as above)
Reed Warbler - 5
Reed Bunting - 8 (as above)
West pool: Canada Geese 7, Mallard 22, Tufted Duck 8, Heron 1, Cormorant 1, Little Grebe 2, Coot 14 - Herring Gull 3, Lesser black back Gull 2, Greater black back Gull 2 flew over north
Only things of note 2 new Sedge Warbler singing presuming disturbed from another area by strumming as none present recently.
This morning
2 Pochard
1 Great Crested Grebe
Cormorant - 2
Reed Bunting- feeding young
Swift -14
Lots of little Grebe but strangely only seen one with young this year
Kestrel - 1 Pair
Grey Partridge - adult & at least 2 chicks (could have been more but lost among corn crop)
Yellow Wagtail - female dropping into cornfield
Kingfisher - on east pool, my first record here this year!
Sand Martin - several hawking over pool
Swift - ca 10 overhead briefly
Mallard - female + 7 ducklings
and usual warblers
Nothing if any real note this morning , just the usual Skylarks etc in good numbers ,pools almost birdless as we're the skies prob due to constant low flyovers of 2 motorised Hang gliders bombing the summit.